China hits back at US President

BEIJING (AFP) - China on Tuesday hit back at US President George W Bush's tribute to the courage of the Dalai Lama and Buddhists in Tibet, saying no country should interfere in its internal affairs. "We hope relevant countries will stop using relevant issues to interfere in China's internal affairs," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters when asked to respond to Bush's comments. Bush on Monday marked the 10th anniversary of a US law aimed at promoting global religious freedom by honouring those who pressed for liberties in China, including the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader. Bush, who will travel to Beijing next month for the opening of the Olympic Games, also paid tribute to China's Uighur Muslims who populate the country's northwest Xinjiang region. "The US knows the stand that China takes regarding the Tibet issue and the Dalai issue," Liu said. "Chinese law protects the religious rights of citizens. But in the meantime, Chinese laws will not allow any illegal and separatist acts that cause social disorder." The spokesman expressed concern over a decision by the International Criminal Court's prosecutor to seek the arrest of Sudan's president for alleged war crimes. "China expresses great concern and worry over the ICC prosecutor's accusation against the Sudanese leader," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters. Meanwhile, a BBC report alleging that China is breaking a United Nations arms embargo on Sudan is biased, the Chinese special envoy to Darfur said in comments published here Tuesday. Envoy Liu Guijin said China's arms sales to Sudan were only small scale and that the trade in military equipment was not fuelling the conflict in Darfur, according to the China Daily newspaper. "The programme is strongly biased," Liu said, according to the English-language daily, which is often used by the government to deliver messages to a foreign audience. "China's arms sales were very small scale and never made to non-sovereign entities. We have strict end-user certificates." The BBC broadcast a programme on Monday alleging that China was breaking the UN arms embargo by providing military equipment and training pilots to fly Chinese jets. Citing two confidential sources, the broadcaster said China was training pilots to fly Chinese Fantan fighter jets, and that Sudan had imported several fighter trainers called K8s two years ago. The BBC said it had also found one Dong Feng Chinese army lorry in the hands of a rebel group in Darfur.